i 


(*O0 


S*r.  'Six  4c) 


Document 

No. 

31, 

] 

SESSION 

1869- 

-'70. 

Ordered 

Jo. 

w. 

and  Binder. 

REPORT  OK  THE  SPECIAL  COMMITTEE  ON  THE 
SENATE  BILL  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  CALLING  A 
STATE  CONVENTION. 

To  the  Senate  of  North  Carolina  ; 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Special  Committee,  to 
whom  was  referred  the  Senate  bill  entitled  "  An  act  to  provide 
for  calling  a  Convention  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina," 
would  respectfully  recommend  a  favorable  consideration  of 
said  bill  by  the  General  Assembly.  A  notice  of  some  of  the 
reasons  therefor  will  not  be  deemed  inappropriate. 

The  circumstances  under  which  our  present  State  Constitu- 
tion was  formed  and  adopted  were  such  that  serious  errors  and 
imperfections  were  almost  unavoidable.  It  was  in  a  time  of 
change  and  revolution,  of  social  and  political  chaos,  of  con- 
flicting interests  and  opinions,  and  of  general  depression  and 
demoralization.  Troublesome  qnestii >ns  respecting  our  Federal 
relations  and  the  rights  of  the  races,— questions  now  settled, — 
then  convulsed  the  public  mind.  The  situation  was  peculiarly 
unfavorable  to  the  exercise  ot  that  sober  wisdom  so  needful  in 
framing  a  permanent  organic  law  for  a  great  State. 

Our  changed  social  condition,  as  well  as  the  requirements 
of  Congress,  made  it  obligatory  onus  to  alter  and  remodel 
some  of  our  old  forms,  admit  new  ideas,  infuse  a  new  spirit 
and  somewhat  modify  our  ancient  customs  and  usages.  This 
fact  we  all  recognized ;  and  all  would  have  been  satisfactory, 
if  the  framers  of  our  new  system  had  simply  made  such  clian 


2 


Document  No.  34.  [Session 

in  our  old  polity  as  were  necessitated  by  our  social  revolution 
and   by   the  enactments  of  Congress.     Then   the  sturdy  old 
North  Carolina,  character  and  individuality  would  have  been 
preserved  :  and  being-  reinvigorated,  refreshed,  and  made  alive, 
would  have  begun   a  noble  developement  under  new  auspices. 
But  the  spirit  of  innovation  carried  our  Constitution-makers 
far  beyond  the  necessities  of  the  time   and   the  wishes  and 
requirements  of  the  Federal   authorities,     [nstead  of  pruning 
off  dead   branches,  and  grafting  fresh  scions  on,  they  uprooted 
the  tree  and  planted  another  in  its  place.     Instead  ot  modify- 
ing our  system,  they  destroyed  it  and  imported  a  wholly  novel 
one.     Our  present  system    is  not  native  and  indigenous  ;  it  is 
exotic.     It  is  not  the  product  of  the  staid,  sober,  sterling  North 
Carolina  mind  ;  it  is  the  invention  of  experimenters  not  well 
acquainted  with  the  genius  of  our  people.     Under  it  we  shall 
never  develope,  as  we  ought  to  do,  into  a  grand,  vigorous  new 
North    Carolina,    but  into  an    awkward    caricature    and  feeble 
imitation   of  other  State  models.     Our  growth,  like  that  of  a 
transplanted  tree,  will  be  unhealthy,  ungraceful,  and  unfruitful. 
A  very  large  portion  of  our  citizens,  who  voted  to  ratify  our 
present  Constitution,   did  not  approve    many  of  its  prominent 
features.     Hut  we  were  ir  an  anamalous  and  disagreeable  po- 
sition.    A  restoration  of  the    State  to    the  Union,    and  relief 
from  the  yoke  o\'  military  government,  were   ardently  longed 
for.     These  happy   results  were  expected  to   follow  a   ratifica- 
tion ol    the  Constitution  ;  so  shutting  their  eyes  to  its  faults, 
stopping  their  ears  to  objections,   and   preferring  any  form  of 
civil  government  to  military,  the  majority  voted  to  ratify  it, 
with    the    general    expectation    and     intention    of    having  it 
amended  soon.     The  necessity  of  its  amendment  is  now  appa- 
rent to  a  very  great  majority  of  the  people,  without  respect  to 
party  or  race.     They  desire  a  constitution  more  in  conformity 
with  their  circumstances  and  their  true  spirit  and  character. 
The  people  of  North  Carolina  have  always  been  distinguished 
for  the  simplicity  of  their  tastes,  their  frugality  and  economy, 
their  honesty  and   integrity,  their  scorn  of  empty  pretension, 


rs 

V>  1869-70.]  Document  No.  34.  :) 

<*> 

'    and  their  sturdy  independence.     They  ought  to  have  a  system 

of  internal  government  in  accord  with  these  characteristics  ; 

^   and  this  they  wi'l  have,  it  they  are  permitted  to  come  together 
and  make  a  government  for  themselves,  the  true  type  ai 
embodiment  of  their  own  genius,  instead  of  having  a  govern 
ment  made  tor  them. 

It  is  due  our  people  to  declare,  and  important  in-  our  fellow- 
citizens  of  the  whole  Union  to  understand,  that  the  desiri 
amend  our  Constitution  proceeds  from  no  purpose  or  design  to 
annul  or  abolish  those  of  its  features  which  guarantee  the 
inviolability  of  the  Union,  the  equal  rights  of  the  races,  or 
any  of  the  other  legitimate  results  of  the  recent  war,  as  em- 
bodied in  the  Congressional  plan  of  reconstruction.  All  these 
are  regarded  here  as  settled  questions.  The  purpose  is  only  to 
make  such  amendments  as  will  secure  to  the  State  a  systei 
internal  administration  that  will  be  simpler,  cheaper,  m  >re 
suitable  to  our  situation,  and  more  efficient  in  promoting  the 
public  peace,  dispensing  public  justice,  and  advancing  the 
material  interests  of  the  State. 

The  grandest  mistake  in  our  existing  Constitution,  and  th^t 
which  of  itselt  would  warrant  the  call  of  a  Convention  to 
remedy  it,  is  the  change  it  has  made  in  our  Judicial  system. 
An  effective  method  for  dealing  out  cheap  and  impartial  jus- 
tice is  the  very  soul  of  a  government.  This  we  once  had  in 
North  Carolina.  But  that  splendid  temple  in  which  such  men 
as  Gaston  and  Iiutrin  ministered  as  high  priests  is  in  ruins. 
The  people  remember  and  long  for  it  again,  like  the  captive 
.lews  longed  for  their  ruined  sanctuary.  Shall  it  not  be  rebuilt  i 
From  all  the  land  comes  up  the  response — It  shall ! 

Our  present  Judicial  system  is  a  servile  copy  of  that  of  New 
York,  a  State  less  like  ours  than  almost  any  other  in  the  Union. 
New  York  is  densely  populated,  North  Carolina  sparsely. 
New  York  is  full  of  large  towns  and  cities,  and  her  people  are 
extensively  engaged  in  commercial  and  maritime  pursuits. 
North  Carolina  is  an  agricultural  State  with  a  rural  people. 
The  New  York  system  was  devised  upon  a  model  deemed  suit- 


7678^ 


4  Document  No.  34.  [Session 

able  to  a  dense,  commercial  community  ;  and  yet  it  is  well 
known  that  it  was  adopted  there  through  an  innovating  freak 
of  tl  I  are  of  1848,  without  consulting  the  people,  who, 

if  they  had  understood  its  true  character  before  it  was  fr 
upon  them,  would  probably  have  frowned  upon  it.  Many 
alterations  have  been  found  needful  in  it  there ;  still  there  is 
great  dissatisfaction  with  it,  and  the  desire  for  its  total  abolish- 
ment  and  a  return  to  the  old  ways  is  becoming  very  general. 
This  costly,  cumbersome,  impracticable,  system  which  New 
York  is  seeking  to  cast  off  has  been  imported  into  North  Caro- 
lina where  it  is  tenfold  more  unsuitable,  and  where  it  is  already 
regarded,  by  nearly  everybody,  as  little  short  of  a  public  nui- 
sance. 

The  "Code  of  Civil  Procedure"  and  kindred  inventions 
which  we  have  borrowed  from  New  York,  inaugurate  a  com- 
plete revolution  in  the  system  of  practice  and  proceeding  in 
Courts,  superceding  the  old  common-law  methods.  Instead  of 
improving  the  old  system,  as  has  been  so  successfully  done  in 
England  since  1834:,  the  New  York  innovators  in   1S4S  de- 

O  7 

stroyed  it  entirely,  and  introduced  this  novelty.  Some  other 
States,  and  finally  North  Carolina,  followed  the  rash  example. 
Upon  the  workings  of  this  "  Code  "  in  New  York,  an  able 
treatise  was  published  two  years  ago  by  W.  II.  Greene,  of 
Buffalo,  to  which  inquirers  are  referred  for  a  description  of  the 
enormous  confusion  which  has  resulted  from  it.  It  would  have 
been  abolished  there  long  since  but  for  the  fact  that  the  great 
increase  of  fees  and  charges  under  it  has  interested  so  many 
officials  in  its  perpetuation.  This  is  a  strong  reason  why  we 
should  abolish  it  at  once,  before  it  becomes  a  fixture  here 
through  its  very  evils  in  opening  up  avenues  to  peculation  and 
extortion. 

Opon  this  important  subject  of  the  folly  of  casting  aside 
the  common-law  forms  and  substituting  novel  "Codes 'Mike 
this,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  often  spoken 
in  strong  terms.  It  is  inconvenient  to  make  extensive  quota- 
tions from  its  reports,  but  the  Senate  will  pardon  an  extract 


1869-70.]  Document  No.  34.  5 

from  the  opinion  of  that  Court  in  the  case  of  M<  2  .  w< 

say,  (20  Howard,  523,)  a  case  coming  up  from  Iowa,  a  State 
which  has  a  "  Code"  very  much  like  our  new  one.  The  Supreme 
Court  says : 

"The  Common  Law,  which  wisely  c«  the  decision  of 

questions  of  law  to  a  Court  supposed  to  be  learned  in  the  la 
and  the  decision  of  questions  j       .    ecesi  irily  re- 

quires that  the  controversy,  before  being  submitted  to  the  tri- 
bunal having  jurisdiction  of  it,  should  be  reduced  to  one  or 
more  integral  propositions  of  fact;  hence  it  is  ne< 

sary  that  the  parties  should  frame  their  allegal 
respectively  the  demand  or  the  defence  in  rtain  writings 

called  pleadings.     *  The  end  proposed  is  to  bring 

the  matter  of  litigation  to  one  or  more  points,  simple  and  un- 
ambiguous. At  one  time  the  excessive  accuracy  required  the 
subtlety  of  distinctions,  "::'     *     The  introduction   of  cum- 

brous forms  '"  '••"  "::"  had  brought  the  system  of  special 
pleading  into  disrepute.  *     But  in  modern   times  it 

has  been  trimmed  of  its  excrescences,  and  the  pleadings  in 
every  form  of  common-law  action  have  been  reduced  to  simple, 
clear  and   unambiguous  forms.  This  system,  ma- 

tured  by  the  wisdom    of  ages,  foi  on  principles  of  truth 

and  sound  reason,  has  been   ruthle  bolished  in   m 

our  States,  who  have  rashly  substituted  in  its  place  the  ■ 
tions  of  sol    '  vent  cod  ystems  of  pleading 

order.     But  this  attempt  to  al  all  species  and  establii 

single  genus  is  found  to   be   !  1   the  power  of  leg: 

omnipotence.  They  cannot  compel  the  human  mind  nol 
distinguish  between  things  that  differ.  The  distinction  be- 
tween the  two  forms  of  action  for  two  different  wrongs,  re- 
quiring different  remedies,  lies  in  the  nature  of  thi  g  ;  it  is 
absolutely  inseparable  from  the  correct  administration  of  jus- 
tice in  common  law  courts. 

"The  result  of  these  experiments    *     "::"     *     has  been  I 
destroy  the  certainty  and  simplicity  of  all  pleadings,  and  intro- 
duce on  the  record  an  endless  wrangle  in  writing,  perplexing 


(')  Document  No.  34.  [Session 

■to  the  court,  delaying  and  impeding  the  administration  of 
justice.     In  the  case  of  Jiandon  va.  Toly,  11  Howard,  517, 

•  *  a  simple  action  on  a  promissory  note,  the  pleadings 
of  which,  according  to  common  law  forms,  would  not  have 
occupied  a  page,  they  were  extended  to  over  twenty  pages, 
requiring  a  two  years  wrangle  *     before  an  issue  could 

be  formed.  *  *  *  In  the  case  of  Bennett  vs.  Butterworth^ 
11  Howard,  66 7.  ':~  *  *  The  court  was  unable  to  discover 
from  the  pleadings  the  nature  of  the  action  or  of  the  remedy 
sought.  It  might,  with  equal  probability,  be  called  an  action 
of  debt,  or  detinue,  or  replevin,  or  trover,  or  trespass,  or  a  bid 
in  chancery.  The  jury  and  the  court  below  seemed  to  have 
labored  under  the  same  perplexity,  as  the  verdict  was  for 
$1200,  and  the  judgment  was  for  four  negroes.  This 

court  has  endeavored  to  impress  the  minds  of  the  judges  of  the 
District  am!  Circuit  Courts  of  the  United  States,  with  the 
impropriety  of  permitting  these  experimental  codes  of  pleading 
and  -practice  to  be  inflicted upon  them.     In  the  last  mentioned 

Be  the  Chief  Justice,  in  delivering  the  opinion  oi  this  court, 
says  :  '  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  recognized 
the  distinction  between  law  and  equity,  and  it  must  be  observed 
in  the  Federal  Courts.1 

"  In  the  States  where  the  courts  of  the  United  States  admin- 
ister the  common  law,  they  cannot  adopt  these  novel  invention*. 
We  have  made  these  remarks  in  order  that  the  bar 
and  courts  of  the  United  States  may  make  their  records  con- 
form to  these  views,  and  not  call  upon  us  to  construe  new 
codes  and  hear  special  demurrers  and  pleadings,  which  are  not 
required  to  conform  to  any  system  founded  on  reason  and 
experience." 

These  weighty  words  from  the  Supreme  Judiciary  of  the 
ion  arc  commended  to  those  who  reverence  profound  wisdom 
and  experience,  speaking  in  harmony  with  the  sanctions  of  the 
Federal  Constitution  itself.  Shall  we  in  North  Carolina  listen 
to  these  words  and  root  out  this  new  "  Code  ;"  or  shall  we  still 
be  led  by  the  nose  by  one  or  two  freshly  imported  innovators 


1869-'7o.]  Document  No.  34.  7 

far  more  remarkable  tor  pertinacity  and  self-assertion  than  for 
sound  sense  or  legal  learning? 

The  cost  of  litigation  under  this  "  Code  "  is  hugely  increased. 
Formerly  a  case  in  a  Justice's  jurisdiction  vast  forty  cents,  now 
two  to  five  dollars,  perhaps  more.  In  the  Superior  Courts  it 
is  increased  in  like  manner.  Fees  are  doubled  and  quadrupled 
in  all  directions.  It  is  impossible  to  give  details.  They  are 
found  on  nearly  every  page  ot  the  "  Code."  Some  ado  has 
been  made  about  the  abolishment  of  the  little  old  four  dollar 
fee  of  attorneys,  and  behold,  a  fifteen  dollar  fee  for  attorneys 
i?  snugly  inserted  under  another  name !  The  people  arc 
entitled  to  know  such  things,  and  they  must.  The  purpose,  it 
is  argued,  of  the  great  admitted  increase  in  costs  is  to  keep 
down  litigation.  This  really  means  that  instead  of  granting 
the  people  cheap  justice,  we  must  frighten  them  away  from  the 
courts  by  the  fear  of  ruin  through  costs  and  charges  wantonly 
imposed.  Noble  idea!  worthy  of  the  "sciolist  who  invent 
codes  to  order  V  But  all  experience  shows  that  litigation  is 
greatly  multiplied  by  such  "  Codes."  A  distinguished  lawyer, 
once  on  our  Supreme  bench,  points  to  the  telling  fact  that  all 
the  decisions,  upon  technicalities  strictly,  rendered  b}r  the 
Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina  in  the  past  seventy-five 
years,  would  not  fill  two  volumes,  while  the  same  class  of 
decisions  in  New  York,  in  the  last  twenty  years,  would  fill 
fifty  volumes.     That  needs  no  comment. 

Another  great  error  in  our  judicial  system,  not  yet  fully 
realized  here,  but  profoundly  felt  in  New  York  and  recently 
changed  there,  is  the  shortness  of  the  official  terms  of  the 
Judges  and  no  prohibition  against  their  being  re-elected.  A 
judge  for  life  or  a  very  long  term  is  inspired  by  the  dignity  of 
his  vocation,  the  glory  of  the  ermine,  and  the  ambition  to  leave 
after  him  an  honorable  tame  as  a  pure,  able  and  learned  jurist. 
These  are  noble  motives  and  influences,  and  they  have  made 
our  judiciary  resplendent  in  the  past.  But  elect  your  judges 
for  short  terms,  make  them  the  playthings  of  the  popular 
breath,  and  you    drag  them    down   from  the  pinnacle  where 


8  Document  No.  34.  [Session 

justice  sits  robed  in  I  lal  sunshine,  into  the  fog  of  passion 
and  prejudice,  it  not  of  corruption.  You,  in  a  manner,  compel 
them  to  be  politicians  and  therefore  partisans,  and  expose  them 
to  evil  influenc<  s  without  number.  Some  will  stand  firm  and 
remain  pure  ;  •  ...  will  become  corrupt,  but  all  will  be  sus- 
pected. Those  who  des  ibli  confidence,  will  often  fail 
to  command  it;  for  multitudes  will  suspect  others  of  yielding 
to  temptations  which  themselves  wouldnot  resist.  And  popu- 
lar distrust  of  the  judiciary  is  an  evil  only  less  than  a  corrupt 
judiciary  itself,  instances  are  not  wanting  in  North  Carolina 
at  this  moment  to  prove  this  truth.  Men  forsaking  the  courts 
and  taking  the  law  into  their  own  hands  ;  private  and  neigh- 
borhood feuds,  outrages  and  violence  agitating  this  Assembly 
and  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  State,  all  proceeding  from  a 
want  of  confidence  in  some  of  our  judicial  officers,  and  this 
perhaps  undeserved.  The  fault  is  not  so  much  in  the  officers, 
it  is  in  the  system,  and  the  evil  can  only  be  eradicated  by 
amending  our  Constitution  and  returning  to  our  old  plan  of 
appointing  Judges  for  life.  Perhaps  very  long  terms  might 
do,  with  ineligibility  afterwards. 

The  expense  of  the  present  Judicial  system  is  much  greater 
than  that  of  the  old  one.  Then  we  had  eight  Superior, 
and  three  Supreme  Judges,  and  their  salaries  amounted  to 
$23,100.  The  whole  Department  of  the  Judiciary  cost  less 
than  $3o,(Ki(.i  a  year.  Now  we  have  twelve  Superior,  and  five 
Supreme  Judges,  whose  salaries  amount  to  $42,500;  though 
the  individual  salaries  of  the  Supreme  Judges  stand  at  the  old 
figure,  and  are  relatively  less  than  those  of  any  other  officers. 
The  public  Treasure)'  (see  his  Report  of  Feb,  8th  1870)  esti- 
mates the  whole  cost  of  this  Department  for  the  current  fiscal 
year  at  $54,000.  Here  then,  in  this  Department,  is  an  increase 
of  821,000,  or  more,  over  the  former  expense.  How  many 
children  would  this  educate  who  will  die  in  ignorance  for  the 
want  of  it  ( 

But  it  is  said  these  additional  judges  are  needed  because  the 
county  courts  are  no  more.     But  the  County  Courts  cost  little 


lS69-'70.]  Document  No.  34.  9 

for  salaries  or  fees  of  officers.  They  dealt  out  substantial 
justice  in  a  plain  and  simple  way.  They  educated  the  people 
in  the  most  common  and  practical  parts  of  the  administration 
of  the  law,  and  gave  even  illiterate  men  much  useful  knowledge 
of  legal  forms  and  proceedings.  They  were  emphatically  I 
people's  courts,  and  the  people  want  them  back  again.  With 
some  slight  improvements,  no  more,  useful  tribunate  ever 
existed  in  any  country.  Among  oilier  excellences,  they  con- 
stituted the  cheapest  and  most  honest  system  of  county  g 
eminent  ever  dev.ised.  Moreover,  the  great  mass  of  business 
pertaining  to  the  administration  and  settlement  of  estates,  to 
guardianships,  to  the  probate  of  wills,  and  the  many  kindred 
subjects,  was  done  by  these  courts,  in  the  easiest  and  simplest 
manner,  and  at  very  small  cost. 

Under  the  present  system,  exceedingly  cumbrous  proceedings 
and  forms  are  required  in  this  latter  class  of  business,  so  that 
taking  out  letters  ot  administration  is  as  troublesome  as  a 
superanuated  suit  in  Equity  ;  and  the  whole  matter  of  estates, 
wills,  deeds,  guardianships,  partition,  dower,  and  numberless 
other  things,  are  thrown  on  the  hands  of  the  Superior  Court- 
Clerk  ;  and  if  the  innovators  could  have  full  sway,  he  would 
also  decide  most  of  the  cases  in  the  Superior  Court  itself.  But 
this  last  idea  is  temporarily  checked.  Nevertheless,  as  it  is,  this 
clerk's  oflice  is  the  grand  receptacle  of  miscellanies, — a  curiosity 
shop, — a  farmer's  old  barrel  into  which  all  kinds  ot  plantat 
tools  and  old  irons  and  trinkets  are  tumbled  pell-mell.  No 
one  man  can  properly  discharge  such  a  variety  ot  duties,  in 
addition  to  his  appropriate  duty  as  Clerk  of  the  Court ;  and 
endless  confusion  will  soon  show  itself  in  this  quarter. 

The  cost  here,  in  the  way  of  fees  and  chargi  -,  ;- 
immense.  This  Assembly  has  just  passed  an  Act  making  the 
Superior  Court  Clerk  of  one  County  a  salaried  officer  with  a 
a  salary  of  $5000  ;  for  the  reason,  as  was  stated  on  this  floor, 
that  the  said  clerk  was  receiving  in  fees  an  unknown  number 
of  thousands— perhaps  twenty  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Are 
the  people  to  endure  a  system  by  which  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty 


10  Document  No.  34.  [Session 

thousand  dollars  of  fees  are  annually  paid  to  a  single  County 
officer  \  You  give  a  Clerk  a  salary  of  §5000,  equal  to  that  of 
of  the  Governor ;  but  you  do  not  thereby  stop  the  extra  amount 
of  fees  from  coming  into  his  office  out  of  the  people's  pockets. 

From  the  statements  made  here  while  that  bill  was  under 
debate,  it  is  certain  that  the  eighty-nine  Clerks  of  the  Superior 
Courts  receive,  on  an  average,  $4000  a  year  each;  making, 
i'ov  the  whole  State,  the  vast  sum  of  $350,000  annually  for  this 
one  class  of  officers.  In  old  times  it  was  scarcely  one  third  as 
much  ;  and  after  duly  allowing  for  the  former  expense  of  trans- 
acting the  extra  work  now  thrown  on  these  clerks,  which  used 
to  be  done  very  cheaply  by  the  county  courts  and  otherwise, 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  business  now  transacted  in  the  offices 
of  the  Superior  Court  Clerks  costs  the  people  at  least  $150,000 
a  year  more  than  the  very  same  matters  cost  under  the  old 
system.  True,  this  is  not  paid  as  taxes  ;  but  it  is  paid  as  fees 
and  charges  ;  and  where  is  the  difference  !  It  comes  out  of  the 
people  and  forms  a  part  of  their  burdens. 

If  we  look  into  the  Executive  Department,  Ave  find  several 
new  offices,  and  a  great  increase  in  salaries  ;  so  that  the  cost 
of  this  Department  for  salaries  of  officers  and  clerks  is  nearly 
three  times  as  great  as  formerly.  The  estimates  for  this 
Department,  during  the  current  fiscal  year  are  placed  at 
$45,500,  by  the  Public  Treasurer.  (See  his  Report  of  Feb.  8, 
1S70.)  This  is  an  increase  of  $25,< M  >< >,  or  more,  over  the  former 
expense.  And  then  besides  this,  there  is  the  swarm  of  subor- 
dinates about  the  offices  and  the  Capitol  and  the  Capitol 
grounds,  doing  nothing  or  worse  than  nothing,  but  costing  an 
immense  amount  of  money  ;  who  can  tell  how  much  ! 

How  is  it  in  the  Legislative  Department  1  The  General 
Assembly  meets  twice  as  often  as  formerly,  its  mileage  and 
pe7*  diem  are  twice  as  large  ;  and  it  sits  twice  as  long.  The 
old  General  Assembly  used  to  cost  about  $60, oik )  biennially, 
or  $30,000  a  year.  The  present  Assembly  has  now  sat  alto- 
gether nearlv  nine  continuous  months.  According  to  the 
aforesaid  Report  of  Treasurer  Jenkins,  tin's  Assembly  has  cost 


1S69-70.]  Document  No.  34.  11 

the  State,  since  October  1st,  1808,  the  startling  sum  of 
$288,599.73',  and  besides  this  the  State  owes  us  now  for  the 
last  month.  This  docs  not  include  the  expense  of  our  first,  or 
Summer  Session  of  1808.  The  Treasurer  (sec  his  Report) 
estimates  the  expense  of  the  Legislative  Department,  for  this 
current  fiscal  year  alone  at  *173,700.  This  is  an  increasi  in 
the  annual  expense  of  this  Department,  over  that  of  old  times, 
of  Sl43,o0<>,  or  more. 

besides  all  this,  there  is  the  expense  of  the  Asylums,  of 
elections,  of  "contingencies,"  Are.,  &c.,  most  of  these  costing 
immensely  over  former  figures.  A  reference  to  the  aforesaid 
Report  of  the  Treasurer  will  show  that  the  annual  cost  of  the 
State  government  proper,  without  paying  any  interest  on  our 
debt,  is  at  least  $300,000  more  than  under  the  old  svstem.    Look 

7  ^  7  „ 

at  the  following  overwhelming  figures  showing  the  money  used 
by  the  present  State  government  since  it  began  in  July, 
18GS  ;  viz  : 

Surplus  in  Treasury,  July  1,  1S6S,  %  42,104  31 

Ordinary  State  Tax  for  1SG8,  (See  Report,)  250,726  19 

Proceeds  of  Dividend  on  N.  C.  Eailroad,  117,000  00 

General  Fund  Tax  fur  1869,  (Sec  Report,)  485,000  00 

Deficit  now  (about)  200,000  00 


Total  general  fund  receipts,  Kl,155,49o  00 

Deduct  amount  paid  as  interest  on  our  old  debt 

October  1,  1868,  111,153  00 


Balance,  $1,044,337  50 

The  above  figures  are  taken  from  the  Reports  of  the  Treasury 
itself,  and  are  indisputably  correct.  And  the  aforesaid  balance 
of  $1,044,337  50  shows  the  sum  which  has  been  expended 
and  incurred,  merely  in  carrying  on  the  machinery  of  the 
./State  government  proper  since  July  1,  1SGS,  less  than  twenty 
months,  or  one  year  and  two-thirds  of  another.     This  is  equal 


12  Document  No.  31.  [Session- 

to  $626,600  per  year.  In  1859  the  State  government  cost 
$212,385  78.  (See  Report  of  D.  W.  Courts,  Treasurer.)  In 
I860  it  cost  considerably  less,  as  the  Assembly  did  not  meet  in 
that  fiscal  year.  (Sec  Seport  of  C.  II.  Brogden,  Comptroller.) 
After  making  all  possible  allowances,  it  is  certain  that  we  d 
not  exaggerate  when  we  set  clown  the  increase  in  cost  of  State 
government  under  $250,000  a  year  more  than  formerly,  the 
present  system  at  §300,000  a  year. 

The  Treasurer  tells  us  the  deficit  will  amount  to  $300,' Kit)  by 
the  first  ot  April,  He  knows  not  how  to  raise  funds  to  meet 
it.  Nobody  will  loan  him  any  thing,  lie  therefore  asks  us  to- 
levy  an  early  crop  of  spring  taxes,  20  cents  on  the  $100,  to  be 
collected  by  April  15th,  1870.  He  also  proposes  an  extra  tax 
to  build  the  Penitentiary  and  support  the  Asylums,  to  be  pay- 
able July  15th,  1870,  and  the  tax  paver  to  be  charged  interest. 
of  one  per  cent,  for  the  first  month,  and  two  per  cent,  a  month 
afterwards  on  his  tax  while  it  remains  unpaid,  after  July  15th. 
lie  also  asks  us  to  instruct  the  Board  of  Education  to  loan  its 
moneys  to  the  State  ;  and  recommends  that  the  opening  of  the 
public  schools  be  postponed.  (See  his  report,  Feb.  8,  1870.) 
These  extraordinary  propositions  show  the  desperate  straits  we 
are  in.  They  truly  indicate  panic  and  despair.  We  thought 
taxes,  and  heavy  ones,  once  a  year  were  bad  enough.  But 
here  is  a  Spring  tax,  and  a  Summer  tax,  besides  the  regular 
Fall  tax. 

We  need  a  Convention  to  stop  this  wild  career  towards 
try  and  utter  ruin.  The  way  to  do  it  is  to  amend  the 
Constitution  so  as  to  limit  salaries  and  expenses  to  a  low  figure ; 
limit  also  per  diem  of  the  Assembly  to  three  or  four  dollars  : 
mileage  to  five  or  ten  cents  ;  limit  the  duration  of  Legislative 
sions,  and  have  fewer  of  them.  As  it  is,  the  laws  are  changed 
so  often  the  people  are  kept  in  utter  uncertainty  and  confusion 
on  this  subject.  It  is  sometimes  objected  that  a  Convention 
will  cost  a  great  deal,  But  Senators  can  easily  see,  from  the 
above  figures,  that  a  Convention,  by  altering  our  system  so  as 


1869-70.]  Document  No.  34.  13 

to  reduce  salaries  and  expenditures,  would  in  one  year  save  to 
the  State  enough  to  pay  for  its  own  cost  three  times  over. 

Lotus  glance  briefly  at  County  and  Township  matters. 
Authentic  information  from  one  county,  about  an  average  one, 
shows  that  its  Board  of  Commissioners  and  other  officers  cost 
$3,500  a  year ;  in  the  same  County  the  old  County  Courts, 
doing  more  work  and  doing  it  better,  used  to  cost  §1,500,  a 
difference  of  $2,000  against  the  new  system.  Leaving  out  all 
other  items  in  the  County  governments,  the  above  ratio  gives 
an  increase  of  $179,000  annual  expense  in  the  eighty-nine 
Counties.  As  for  the  Towns/rij)S,  there  are  over  seven  hundred 
of  them  in  the  State,  and  the  expense  of  governing  each  may 
be  safely  estimated  at  not  less  than  $200  a  year.  Put  down 
the  aggregate  at  $140,000,  and  this  is  entirely  a  new  expense. 

We  need  a  Convention  to  take  proper  steps  in  regard  to  the 
State  debt.  The  hopeless  tangle  we  are  in  on  that  subject 
needs  no  comment. 

We  need  a  Convention  to  amend  the  Constitution  so  as  to 
prohibit  one  person  from  holding  two  or  more  offices  at  once, 
a  thing  only  partially  prohibited  now,  and  which  threatens  to 
grow  into  a  great  evil.  Many  persons  are  holding  a  Federal 
office  and  a  State  office  also. 

We  need  more  stringent  guarantees  against  improvident 
appropriations  of  the  public  money  and  pledging  of  the  State's 
credit. 

We  need  clearer  and  stronger  restrictions  and  limitations 
upon  the  rate  of  taxation,  and  an  uprooting  ot  the  present 
system  of  special  State  and  County  taxes,  by  which  device  all 
barriers  are  overleaped  and  the  people  taxed  ad  libituin. 

We  need  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  offices.  The  ureat 
variety  and  multiplicity  of  these  not  only  cost  insufferably, 
but  beget  a  fondness  for  office-holdinrr,  which  is  growing  into 
a  speeies  of  insanity  all  over  the  country. 

But  it  is  impossible  to  mention  all  the  obviously  useful  and 
important  amendments  needed   in   our  present  system.     AVe 


14  Document  No.  34.  [Session 

think  this  report  points  out  a  number  which  are  essential; 
such  are  the  reform  of  the  present  Judicial  system,  and  the 
abolishment  of  its  pendant — the  ''Code";  the  simplifying  of 
the  duties  of  Superior  Court  Clerks;  the  restoration  of  the 
County  Courts;  the  remodeling  of  the  county  governments, 
and  other  matters  suggested  above.  A  general  reform  is  needed 
in  all  departments,  with  a  view  to  greater  economy :  so  that 
we  may  perfect  our  School  system,  and  convert  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  now  wasted  on  useless  officials  into  a 
fund  for  the  advancement  of  the  sacred  cause  of  Education. 

The  estimates  and  figures  embodied  in  this  report,  which  by 
no  means  embrace  all  the  items  of  expenditure,  and  which  we 
have  tried  to  set  forth  without  exaggeration,  when  brought 
together  show  the  following  inereasi  of  annual  expenses,  costs, 
fees  and  taxes  for  merely  carrying  on  the  State  and  County  <iov- 
ermriA  nts  on  the  present  plan,  to  wit : 

State  government,  increased  cost,  $300,000 
Business  done  in  Superior  Court  Clerk's  office,  in- 
creased cost,  150,000 
County  Commissioners,  &c,  extra  cost,  179,00ft 
Township  governments,  new  expense,  140,000 


Total  increase,  $769,000 

Such  is  the  vast  amount  uselessly  spent  in  various  ways,  and 
therefore  wasted,  annually,  under  the  present  system  of  inter- 
nal government  in  North  Carolina.  Do  we  not  need  a  change  3 
No  wonder  the  State  is  bankrupt.  No  wonder  the  treasury 
is  empty,  though  a  heavy  tax  has  just  come  in.  No  wonder 
the  inmates  of  our  Asylums  are  in  danger  of  actual  want. 
The  people  groan  under  their  burdens.  The  Assembly  imposes 
taxes  for  the  State ;  the  County  Boards  levy  taxes  ;  the  Town- 
ship Boards  levy  taxes.  Everybody  and  everything  is  taxed, 
and  money  pours  into  the  public  coffers ;  but  it  will  scarcely 
lodge  there  over  night.     /Seven  hundred  and  sixty-nine  thou- 


1869-"?0.]  Document  No.  34  15 

sand  dollars  needless  increase  of  annual  pay  to  officials,  while 
the  children  of  both  races  are  growing  up  ignorant,  untutored  ; 
thousands  of  precious  intellectual  diamonds  destined  never  to 
be  polished,  and  the  State  government  only  giving  them  the 
poor  pittance  of  jjfty  cents  a  piece  annually  to  get  an  educa- 
tion with,  and  the  school-houses  to  build,  too ! 

The  people  demand  a  change.  Without  regard  to  party  or 
race  they  demand  it.  We  ought  to  hear  and  heed  their  voice. 
We  cannot,  if  we  would,  quench  the  mighty  spirit  which  is 
awaking  like  a  ground-swell  in  the  hearts  of  the  masses.  We 
might  as  well  try  to  imprison  a  volcano  under  a  half-bushel, 
or  quiet  an  earthquake  with  a  eradle-song.  Let  us  then  grant 
the  people  the  most  effectual  remedy  for  the  evils  they  com- 
plain of  by  calling  a  Convention  to  change  the  present  system, 
and  remodel  it  upon  sound  principles. 

The  undersigned  would  not  close  this  report  without  ear- 
nestly calling  upon  all  sober,  thoughtful  and  moderate  men  in 
this  Assembly,  and  outside  of  it,  to  unite  together.  The  people 
are  weary  of  extremes.  The  time  has  come,  and  the  hour  has 
struck  when  men  who  love  North  Carolina  more  than  they 
love  any  party,  must  strike  hands  in  token  of  concord,  and 
stand  shoulder  to  shoulder.  This  is  undoubtedly  the  spirit  of 
the  people.  Let  us  respond  to  it  and  show  ourselves  statesmen 
and  not  more  partisan  bigots  and  fanatics.  Let  us  search  and 
see  if  we  cannot  find  some  solid  ground  on  which  all  true  North 
Carolinians  can  rally  to  redeem  the  State,  and  start  her  out 
on  a  new  career  of  prosperity  and  glory,  transcending  all  the 
past.  We  have  been  chastened  by  misfortune.  We  arc  in 
profound  difficulties  now.  Let  us  learn  wisdom  from  these 
lessons  and  begin  a  new  era.  And-as  the  first  step  in  this  path, 
let  us  allow  the  people  of  the  State  to  assemble  together  in 
Convention  to  frame  for  themselves  a  true  North  Carolina  gov- 
ernment. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  proper  to  add  that  though  plainness  and 


16  Document  No.  34.  [Session 

candor  have  been  used  in  this  report,  nothing  has  been  said 
with  any  purpose  to  wound  the  pride  or  prejudices  of  any  true 
North  Carolinian,  either  native  or  adopted.  Begging  that  any 
seeming  warmth  may  be  set  down  to  the  account  of  honest 
zeal  and  sincere  conviction,  this  report  is 
Most  respectfully  submitted, 

WM.  M.  ROBBINS,  Ch'mn. 
C.  T.  MUBPHY. 


LAW  ' 


ALIFORNU 


